2. Saute the onions and garlic. Do not let garlic brown. Once aromatic, add in chicken.

3. Stir a few seconds then combine all the sauces & stock with 1 cup of water and pour into the claypot.

4. Add all the vegetables. Let the sauce simmer and vegetables become tender. Adjust seasoning to taste. After about a minute ,thicken the sauce by adding the cornflour water in. Add the whisked egg and slowly stir the claypot so the egg breaks. This will aid in thickening of the gravy.

5. Then finally add the fried beancurd and mix carefully not to break them as they are soft.

Ever since my sister introduced me to this mud cake, o-em-gee!! Like seriously out of this world good. Just look at the ingredients, no wonder it tastes amazing… loaded with real chocolate, sugar and butter! When she first made it for me, I ate without any guilt. Now that I made it and know whats inside, I could only have a bite…hehe But on a serious note, if you want to indulge and make it for an occassion, THIS is the chocolate mud cake to make. TRUST ME on this!

And this cake was what I made for a friends farewell party.

^Please excuse the bad photo quality. I was cutting it during the event and kids were all next to me hassling for a piece lol. This was the best pic I could take. Photo does not reflect how moist the cake actually is.

1. Grease a deep 23cm round cake tin. Line the base and sides with baking paper, making sure the paper extends well above the top of the tin.

2. Dissolve the coffee in 185mls hot water. Put the melted butter, sugar, melted chocolate and dissolved coffee in a mixing bowl and stir until corporated.

3. Dry ingredients: Sift the flours, cocoa and bicarb of soda into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.

4. Add the combined eggs, oil and milk; using a large spoon or spatula mix well into the dry ingredients. Add half the cooled melted chocolate mixture (from step 2); stir well till there are no lumps. Add the remaining half; make sure the mixture is well combined. It should be of a pourable consistency.

5. Pour the mixture into the carefully lined cake tin. Place into a preheated oven set at 130 – 150degrees celcius. No higher. It should be baked long, slow and low heat. Bake for approx 1 3/4 hours. It is not unusual for the top of the cake to develop a crust or for the centre to be slightly sunken. Place the cake on a rack; leave in tin until completely cold. Once cold; cover securely with a tea towel. Leave overnight.

6. Turn cake out, remove all of the lining. Examine the cake. You want a level cake when it comes to decorating; therefore if it is not even it may be necessary to slice off some of the crusty bits until it is level with the centre of the cake. Sometimes the cake may have a slight rise. In this instance simply cut off the risen bit in the centre. Sometimes you won’t have to do a thing.

7. Once you have achieved a flat, top surface, turn the cake upside down. It is wise to do this on the serving plate with some cutouts of baking paper around the edges and under the cake. This alleviates any messiness and once the icing becomes firm, the baking paper can be removed leaving your cake looking immaculately decorated.

8. In a small glass bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate. Do not overheat. In another bowl, melt the butter in the microwave. Once again, do not overheat or ‘sizzle’ the butter; just till almost melted. Pour this into the melted chocolate and slowly incorporate the two together. Stir until well combined and you have achieved a nice glossy, pouring chocolate.

9. Pour ganache onto the centre of the cake. Using a spatula or a knife, spread the ganache all over the cake. If the weather is hot or humid you can take a little more time to get it right. If the weather is cold you may have to work more quickly as the chocolate ganache may begin to harden.

10. Allow the topping to set at room temperature. If at any time you place it in the fridge you will lose the glossy shine. It won’t affect the taste, it just won’t look as silky smooth.

Are you on a healthier sustainable diet? Or trying to lose weight? And you love chocolate cakes? Well, this guilt-free chocolate cake will definitely win you over. There is not butter, and it is substituted with avacado making it very moist. Surprisingly, you cant even taste it! Healthy eating does not mean you deprive yourself from yummy treats, you just substitute to a healthier alternative. I have been following Lose Baby Weight for a while and they have fabulous recipes, so do check them out!

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a springform tin and line the bottom with greaseproof paper. Wrap the outside of the tin in aluminium foil (so water doesn’t get in when cooking).

2. Place chocolate in a small saucepan and melt, stirring, over a low heat.

3. Add vanilla and sugar and stir until well combined. Add avocado puree and mix thoroughly. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs for 1 minute or until frothy. Add flour and beat again. Add the chocolate mixture and mix well. Pour into the springform pan.

4. Pour 1 inch (2.5cm) of water into a large roasting dish and place the springform pan in the water. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the cake has just set on the edge but remains soft in the centre.

5. Remove the foil coating and put the pan onto a wire rack to cool for a few minutes. Turn the cake out onto the wire rack and peel the baking paper off the base, which is now the top of the cake.

My sister has been asking for satay the past few weeks, and it just never happened. So this week, she firmly said “I’m making satay!” and I told her I’d make the peanut sauce to complement her satay. I’ve never made peanut sauce (kuah kacang) ever, but I was excited to give it a go. Although I’m not a huge satay fan, I do love my satay sauce and we usually eat it with nasi impit (rice cubes). You know how westerners love their dipping sauce? Well, I smother my rice cubes in this peanut dipping sauce. So, I was up at 1am (dont ask why!) cooking this. And I’m glad it turned out delicious!

*excuse the dark poor quality pic, it was taken at night*

I went on google and typed ‘kuah kacang’ and clicked the first link I saw. I’m glad it had really good photos (because we eat with our eyes right?) so I used this recipe.

1. In a large wok, dry fry the peanuts, stirring to make sure it doesn’t burn easily. This would take about 10 minutes.

2. Remove from wok and soak with cold water. Using a food processor, process the peanuts. The consistency you’re looking for is not smooth like a paste, but more texturally lumpy. Just make sure all the peanuts have been processed thoroughly & there are not huge bits.

3. Heat up wok again with oil and then fry the onions until aromatic. Add in the blended dried chillies and cook until the oil separates. This should take 15-20mins.

4. Add the processed nuts and 2-3 cups water. Bring to a boil then add in palm sugar, brown sugar and salt. Simmer on low for another hour.

5. Once the hour has reached, you’ll notice the sauce thickening up and has darkened in colour. The oil should also separate and you’ll know its ready. Serve with satay and/or rice cubes (nasi impit)